The Quran on Seas and Rivers 214 En

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The Quran on Seas and Rivers

Description: Barriers between various types of water found in nature: a fact mentioned in the

Quran expounded by science.

By islam-guide.com

Published on 02 Mar 2006 - Last modified on 31 Oct 2006

Category:Articles >Evidence Islam is Truth > The Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran

Category:Articles >The Holy Quran > The Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran

Modern Science has discovered that in the

places where two different seas meet, there is a

barrier between them. This barrier divides the two

seas so that each sea has its own temperature,

salinity, and density.[1] For example,Mediterranean sea water is warm, saline, and less

dense, compared to Atlantic ocean water. When

Mediterranean sea water enters the Atlantic over

the Gibraltar sill, it moves several hundred

kilometers into the Atlantic at a depth of about 1000

meters with its own warm, saline, and less dense characteristics. The Mediterranean

water stabilizes at this depth[2] (see figure 1).

Figure 1: The Mediterranean sea water as it enters the Atlantic over the Gibraltar sill with its

own warm, saline, and less dense characteristics, because of the barrier that distinguishes

between them. Temperatures are in degrees Celsius (C). (Marine Geology, Kuenen, p. 43, with a

slight enhancement.)

Although there are large waves, strong currents, and tides in these seas, they do not

mix or transgress this barrier.

The Holy Quran mentioned that there is a barrier between two seas that meet and that

they do not transgress. God has said:"He has set free the two seas meeting together. There is a barrier

between them. They do not transgress." (Quran 55:19-20)

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But when the Quran speaks about the divider between fresh and salt water, it

mentions the existence of "a forbidding partition" with the barrier. God has said in the

Quran:

"He is the one who has set free the two kinds of water, one sweet

and palatable, and the other salty and bitter. And He has made

between them a barrier and a forbidding partition." (Quran 25:53)

One may ask, why did the Quran mention the partition when speaking about the

divider between fresh and salt water, but did not mention it when speaking about the

divider between the two seas?

Modern science has discovered that in estuaries, where fresh (sweet) and salt water

meet, the situation is somewhat different from what is found in places where two seas

meet. It has been discovered that what distinguishes fresh water from salt water in

estuaries is a "pycnocline zone with a marked density discontinuity separating the two

layers."[3] This partition (zone of separation) has a different salinity from the fresh water

and from the salt water[4] (see figure 2).

Figure 2: Longitudinal section showing salinity (parts per thousand ) in an estuary. We can seehere the partition (zone of separation) between the fresh and the salt water. (Introductory

Oceanography, Thurman, p. 301, with a slight enhancement.)

This information has been discovered only recently, using advanced equipment to

measure temperature, salinity, density, oxygen dissolubility, etc. The human eye cannot

see the difference between the two seas that meet, rather the two seas appear to us as

one homogeneous sea. Likewise, the human eye cannot see the division of water in

estuaries into the three kinds: fresh water, salt water, and the partition (zone ofseparation).

Endnotes:

[1]Principles of Oceanography, Davis, pp. 92-93.

[2]Principles of Oceanography, Davis, p. 93.

[3]Oceanography, Gross, p. 242. Also seeIntroductory Oceanography, Thurman, pp. 300-301.



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[4]Oceanography, Gross, p. 244, and Introductory Oceanography, Thurman, pp. 300-301.

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The Quran on Seas and Rivers 214 En